A major upgrade to Gmail is getting the thumbs down from users who complain that the new version is extremely slow, often fails to load pages and even crashes their browsers.
People have flooded discussion forums with complaints since Google began “upgrading” users about two weeks ago to the new version, popularly referred to in the blogosphere as Gmail 2.0.
Ironically, Gmail 2.0, which features an upgraded contacts manager, is designed to be faster and more stable. Gmail 2.0 is based on what a Google spokesman calls “a major structural code change” upon which new features will be launched in coming months.
“Most users should see a marked improvement in performance. We recommend using IE7 and Firefox 2 to take full advantage of Gmail’s speedier interface,” said spokesman Jason Freidenfelds via e-mail.
Asked about the problems users are reporting, Freidenfelds didn’t address the complaints specifically but said that Google appreciates the feedback it’s getting. “The new code underlying Gmail should allow us to roll out performance improvements more frequently,” he said.
Users interviewed via e-mail for this article report a variety of performance problems with Gmail 2.0.
The most common complaint is that it is generally very slow, with delays of a minute or more when attempting to display the inbox upon logging on, to record keystrokes when typing text and to respond to mouse clicks. Often the tasks time out. Others report that Gmail 2.0 repeatedly crashes or freezes their browsers, in particular Firefox.
If these users switch to the “old” Gmail version, the problems go away. However, these users say they have to switch manually every time they log on, because Gmail 2.0 automatically became their default version once they got upgraded to it.
When Google upgraded his account last week, Jim Sellers, a software programmer based in Ottawa, Canada, was eager to try Gmail 2.0′s improved contacts manager, but his Firefox 2.0 browser kept crashing both on Windows 2000 and Mac OS X 10.4.
“These problems were very disruptive. I spend at least 25 percent of my day using my browser as one of my main working tools. To have it crash like that made the new version of Gmail a non-option,” said Sellers, an otherwise satisfied Gmail user since June 2004.
As a workaround, Sellers has bookmarked the URL for the “old” Gmail version. However, others expressed worry that Google at some point will phase out access to the “old” Gmail without having fully resolved problems.
Some users interviewed also complained that Google didn’t notify them that they would be moved to Gmail 2.0, or give them an option to decline the upgrade.
Others, on the other hand, trust Google will soon solve the issues. That’s the case of Jack Freeman, a retiree in Oklahoma who, for lack of broadband options in his area, has learned to live with, and make the best of, his relatively slow dial-up connection.
For example, he enjoys posting answers in Google discussion forums, and in recent days has been addressing a lot of questions about the slowness of Gmail 2.0. Freeman’s solution to the delays has been to toggle between the two versions of the service. “It is still my favorite e-mail program,” Freeman said.
Google is moving people progressively to Gmail 2.0, so some users have it and others don’t.
Google didn’t immediately reply to a series of follow-up questions, so it’s not clear what percentage of people have access to the new version and how many are experiencing problems with it. It’s also unclear when Google expects to have everyone on the new version and when the performance problems be solved.
What’s clear is that the problems have unleashed a storm of complaints. A search, sorted by date, for “Gmail slow” in the Gmail Help Discussion forum returns about 35 pages of results related to problems with Gmail 2.0.
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Google, Internet | No Comments »
Digg is close to announcing its sale to a major media player for $300 million to $400 million, according to sources close to the company, I hear. When I floated this Digg rumor past some knowledgeable friends, several scoffed: “When isn’t Digg up for sale?” It’s true: The news-discussion site is perpetually in talks — but we hear the price tag always sinks potential deals before they’re consummated. CBS, for example, backed off, with effervescent dealmaker Quincy Smith citing the media company’s bubbly $280 million purchase of Last.fm as the reason it couldn’t bid a high price for Digg. Things are different now, though.
Digg recently inked a $100 million, multiyear ad deal with Microsoft. On those revenues alone, Digg’s acquirers could easily justify a $300 million to $400 million purchase price; if Microsoft is paying about $30 million a year for Digg’s banner-ad inventory, paying that price would mean a modest 10x to 13x multiple on revenues.
So who is it? A source rules out all the big Internet players — not Microsoft, not Google, not Yahoo. CBS, a big Web acquirer of late, has taken itself out of the running. So who could it be?
Two possibilities: The New York Times Co. and the Washington Post Co. Both the Times’ Arthur Sulzberger and the Post’s Donald Graham are big believers in a digital future. And both can see firsthand how much traffic Digg contributes to their websites. If I were to place a bet on those two? I’d say the Post, which already owns Slate and has close dealings with Microsoft; Digg’s Microsoft ad deal would not discomfit Graham the way it might other businessmen. The Post also has a stronger balance sheet, with a market cap four times the Times’.
That’s pure speculation, of course. Acquisition talks fall apart all the time — and for Digg, especially, with its history of almost-but-not-quite deals, I wouldn’t be surprised if nothing came of this latest rumor. Still, it’s telling that the Valley’s talk about Digg has changed from scoffing at its overinflated valuation to talking about who’s willing to meet Digg’s terms.
Digg CEO Jay Adelson gave me the standard noncomment about “rumors and speculation.” But given his transcontinental commute from New York to San Francisco, I wouldn’t be surprised if he’d be glad to put his company up for sale. For founder Kevin Rose, a sale would be more emotional. He’d have to be comfortable with whoever buys the company, since he’d likely stay involved. His Diggnation podcast, which draws on headlines from Digg, is one of the centerpieces of his other startup, Revision3. Digg’s contentious audience, too, might not take to the site’s new owners. That’s the biggest obstacle, I suspect, to any deal happening. Those who would profit from the wisdom of crowds must contend with their madness, too.
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Internet | No Comments »
Australian singer Kylie Minogue capped her comeback from breast cancer on Monday with a new single and the launch of a mobile phone social networking site that its designers said was a first for a major pop act.
Minogue’s spokesman also confirmed she had discussed the possibility of a world tour in 2008, when she will be 40, but that no decision had been made.
The Daily Mail newspaper reported on Monday that Minogue had cancelled a forthcoming tour due to concerns over her health.
“Kylie has not been told by her doctors that touring ‘could seriously harm her health’,” Murray Chalmers of record label EMI said in a statement.
“Touring is something that she is still considering for the future. Her health remains excellent,” he said, adding that Minogue’s representatives had demanded a “prominent apology for today’s highly damaging story” from the Mail.
Minogue, one of the most successful female artists in Britain with hits from “I Should Be So Lucky” to “Can’t Get You Out Of My Head,” released her new single “2 Hearts” digitally on Monday. It will be in shops a week later.
Her album “X” appears on November 26.
“2 Hearts” has already been branded a “surefire No.1″ by the Sun tabloid, reflecting Minogue’s popularity in Britain. Her worldwide album sales are estimated at around 40 million.
SOAP ACTRESS TO POP FAME
Having transformed herself from a 1980s soap actress into an international fashion icon and top-selling pop star, her appeal was further enhanced by her battle with cancer.
“If Kylie won admiration for her pop success, her courage and dignity in the face of her 2005 battle against breast cancer earned the public’s enduring respect,” Hello magazine wrote.
Minogue was forced to suspend her “Showgirl Tour” when she underwent surgery in Melbourne, followed by chemotherapy in Paris where her then boyfriend had a home.
“When you are stripped of everything and you have to grow your eyelashes back, grow your hair back, it’s astonishing,” Minogue told Glamour magazine in a recent interview.
“It’s hard to express what I’ve learnt from that, but a deep psychological and emotional shift has obviously taken place.”
During her recovery, Minogue penned a children’s book and made occasional public appearances before returning to the stage in Sydney a year ago to resume her tour.
To coincide with the new single, Minogue has launched her own social networking Web site www.KylieKonnect.com allowing fans to register on their mobile phones, blog, communicate with other users and upload images and video.
Its designers, New Visions Mobile, believe it is a more mobile and flexible model than social network sites like MySpace and Facebook, already important marketing tools for pop stars. It also allows Minogue to sell music online.
“The whole thing is set up so that Kylie can update her blog and have a closer connection with fans,” said Julia McNally, business development director at New Visions Mobile.
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Entertainment, Internet, Web 2.0 | No Comments »
